On November 15th, 2016 Zicklin Forensic Accounting Association held an event that deviated from the accounting field, therefore attracting students also from other business fields, such as finance. Ajay Bhatt, the guest speaker from Credit Suisse gave a very informative presentation on Stress Testing and on his experience of implementing Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR).

CCAR is Federal Reserve regulation which targets large banks and requires performance of periodical Stress Testing in order to measure how much money a financial institution could lose in extreme or stressed market environments. To meet all the requirements of CCAR regulations, however, financial institutions lean heavily on their internal audit departments.

Ajay, who is an expert of CCAR, walked the attendees through the steps of Stress Testing process, including coming up with the scenarios, narrative and variables to test; and building a model and submitting it for review and approval to Federal Reserve. The process which could take from weeks to months is hard to execute and requires a lot of professional judgment and knowledge of fields such as economics, math, and finance. Ajay, who holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, stumbled into the field of risk by working on a project that intrigued him enough to change his career path to one in which he could utilize his love for solving problems.

By having an aptitude and willingness to learn in addition to working hard, Ajay found the job that he loves and he claims that containing these valuable qualities will help students in reaching their goals as well.

When it comes to Forensic Accounting 101, there aren’t many people more qualified to speak about the subject than Marc Benson. On November 10th, 2016 the Zicklin Forensic Accounting Association invited Marc as guest speaker to present the differences between audit and forensic work; share anecdotes from his career, and give valuable advice to students who attended the popular event.

Marc, who is a Baruch alumnus, started his career practicing audit at KPMG but changed his line of work after having the opportunity to work on one of the firm’s forensic projects. With the analytical and investigative skills he honed from his positions as Director of Investigation for American Express and Deputy Inspector General for the NYC Department of Investigation (just to name a few), he now stands in his current consulting position as Director of Navigant Consulting’s Global Investigations & Compliance Practice.

During his presentation, Marc described the pros and cons of working in forensic accounting as opposed to auditing. Forensic Accounting is best described by its creative, thought-provoking, and autonomic work conditions. Some even consider the work fun! This field prompts individuals into “thinking as a thief”. As a result, having a long detailed plan is not always feasible. Every case is unique: obtaining clients are difficult and large amounts of travel are involved. To those who find this style of work appealing, Benson encourages them to build their skills set by solidifying their accounting foundation, developing analytical and IT skills, understanding internal controls, and above all, strengthening their communication skills to clearly and concisely explain any findings verbally and in writing. Because forensic teams comprise of individuals with various skills, people from different backgrounds are sought after. To set oneself apart and offer a variety of unique skills to future employers, Marc urges students to build their own pool of knowledge and be creative about their career paths. Marc also emphasized the importance of professional and personal networks in finding a job.

As a professional who’s had a long career in forensic accounting, Marc Benson has seen a large growth in the practice. Nowadays, many audit firms have a forensic accounting practice because the need to involve forensic procedures in auditing has increased; this is so that the firm can be protected from possible litigations. At the event’s conclusion, Marc gives one last advice for Baruch students: to find a job they enjoy as much as he enjoys his.​By Justyna Maj, edited by Maisie Gao​

​On October 25th, 2016, Zicklin Forensic Accounting Association was pleased to bring back a guest speaker, Michael Schulstad, whose presence always attracts a great number of students interested to hear about his fascinating career path. What makes Michael so intriguing is, among other things, his past employment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an experience he is always happy to talk about.

Attendees learned about the guest’s early career in public accounting from which Michael shifted to a more exciting, but also more dangerous, job as an FBI investigator. 25 years with the agency exposed him to numerous criminal cases, including Las Vegas casino fraud, investment portfolio fraud conducted by a trusted bank officer, conviction of attorneys involved in insurance fraud and undercover operation that led to an arrest of over 100 individuals. Before leaving law enforcement entirely, he worked for a few years as an Inspector General in Afghanistan and Washington DC, which exposed him to extreme cases of corruption, money laundering, theft and bank fraud. Upon becoming a civilian again, he joined WeiserMazars LLP, a prominent international accounting, audit, tax, and advisory service firm. Since the start of this year, Mr. Schulstad began working for MFR Consultants Inc, At the new organization, he’s involved in forensics as well as other engagements which are challenging, but give him opportunities to learn and build new skills.

Throughout the presentation, Michael involved students in solving the cases and was eager to answer any questions. For those who were interested in pursuing a similar career path, he pointed out the differences between law enforcement and civilian careers and emphasized how getting along with people, being willing to talk to them and listening carefully to what they say are crucial in investigations. As an educated and experienced professional, he advised students to get their Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licenses and encouraged them to become the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) and Accredited Health Care Fraud Investigator (AHFI) certified in order to show their expertise in the field.